[CHARACTER] The History of Acerbus ex Merinita

Acerbus took their name at gauntlet from the bitterness of the waters he excelled at creating.

He was born in the low countries to a mother who named him Rutger, and noticed that he closely resembled the stranger who lived near the ruins of an ancient temple of the Belgae. His Gift manifested when he was nine and he was taken as an apprentice by Prunellie of Merinita, who saw his obvious faerie heritage. He studied at her covenant of Florum in Ghent, and took opportunities to speak to travelling merchants and sailors and learn about the ports they came from. His talents clearly aligned themselves to dealing with Aquam magics. When he got the chance to do errands for the covenant outside of Ghent, he grabbed the opportunity.

He has discovered that his magic flows well with a suitable environment to study in, and plenty of vis. Sadly, something in his faerie blood seems to interact with Corpus magic, meaning he will need to pursue his house’s mysteries if he wants a long life.

He is driven by a desire to gain a great reputation. He decided he will not follow his parens’ example of studying urban faeries, but will instead find somewhere rich in vis and make studies that will build his reputation and make people respect the Merinita as more than mere tinkerers with faeries.

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Virtues:
The Gift; Social status - Hermetic magus; Faerie magic (all of these free from being a Merinita)
Strong faerie blood (sidhe); Free study, improved characteristics, minor magical focus (corrosive liquids), puissant creo, puissant aquam, strong parens, study bonus

FLAWS: either Ambitious (hermetic reputation) or Driven (build his reputation) (major personality)
Difficult Longevity Ritual (major hermetic)
Mentor (Prunellie or another suitable merinita) (minor story)
Study requirement (major hermetic)

No problems so far. I’ll check in more detail when it’s far enough along to enter on Metacreator.

Having a Merinta in the covenant will help with the relations with the inhabitants of the woods to the north and allow the investigation of what happened to the last Merinita.

Maybe she pursued the path of Faerie immortality a bit too enthusiastically…

Acerbus ex Merinita

Characteristics: Int +, Per 0, Pre +3, Com 0, Str 0, Sta +1, Dex 0, Qik 0 (presence includes bonus from sidhe faerie blood)
Size:0
Age:24
Decrepitude:0
Warping Score:0
Confidence Score: 1 (3)
Virtues:
The Gift; Social status - Hermetic magus; Faerie magic (all of these free from being a Merinita)
Strong faerie blood (sidhe); Free study, improved characteristics, minor magical focus (corrosive liquids), puissant creo, puissant aquam, strong parens, study bonus

FLAWS: either Ambitious (hermetic reputation)(major personality)
Difficult Longevity Ritual (major hermetic)
Mentor (Prunellie or another suitable merinita) (minor story)
Study requirement (major hermetic)

Personality traits: Ambitious (reputation) +6, Brave +2, Tidy +1
Reputations: Sadly none yet
Soak: +1
Abilities:
Area Lore (Frisia) 2 (ports), Artes Liberales 1 (astronomy), Athletics 1 (Climbing), Awareness 1 (searching), Brawl 1 (dodging), Charm 1 (first impressions), chirurgy 1 (wound treatment), Code of Hermes 1 (molesting the fae), Concentration 1 (aiming spells), Faerie Lore 2 (forest fairies), Finesse 1 (aiming spells), Folk Ken 1 (merchants), Guile 1 (fast talk), Infernal Lore 1 (demons), Intrigue 1 (alliances), Latin 4 (hermetic usage), Low German 5 (Frisian dialect), Magic lore 1 (regiones), Magic Theory 3 (aquam), Merinita Lore 1 (self-initiation), Organisation Lore: Order of hermes 1 (covenants), Parma magica 1 (mentem), Penetration 1 (aquam), Philosophiae 1 (natural philosophy), Profession: Scribe 1 (copyist), Second sight 2 (regiones), Stealth 1 (moving quietly), Survival 2 (coastal), Swim 1 (diving)

Arts:
Cr 10+3 In 4 Mu 4 Pe 4 Re 4 An 0 Aq 10+3 Au Co 0 He 0 Ig 0 Im 0 Me 0 Te 0 Vi 0

Spells:
Creeping Oil CrAq 15
Mighty Torrent of Water CrAq20
Alchemist’s Revenge CrAq25 (from Societates p35)
Clear sight of the naiad InAq5
Touch of the pearls InAq5
Parching Wind PeAq 20
Cloak of the duck’s feathers ReAq 5
Break the oncoming wave ReAq 10
Push of the gentle wave ReAq 15
Bind Wound CrCo 10
Wizard’s Sidestep ReIm 10
The Unseen Porter ReTe 10
(150 levels - 120 + the 30 from Skilled Parens)
Equipment: Robes, several flasks and waterskins, a small knife, a quill and a tiny vial of ink and a few tiny pieces of parchment cut from the edges of a bigger piece.

I took the “Exploring childhood” package, added 4 years (including some faerie lore and second sight - I have Strong Faerie Blood so I can do this), then took apprenticeship with 50% into abilities and 50% into arts.

Finally getting around to properly reviewing this.

The total characteristics don’t add up especially after you take Improved Characteristics into account. It looks as though you have intended to put in a high Int but forgot to add the number.

I assume by Strong Parens you mean Skilled Parens?

You need to decide what the physical sign of your Strong Faerie Blood is.

I’m not sure how Study Requirement and Free Study will interact, nor Stong Sidhe Blood and Difficult Longevity Ritual but I can’t see any necessary contradiction.

You have ‘aiming spells’ as a specialisation for both Concentration and Finesse. I’m fairly sure it should be the second one.

Everything else works except that you have ten spare points in Abilities from… Somewhere. Can’t tell you where just now.

Perhaps you might want to spend them on beginner’s English?

Where did the “3” after the “+” disappear to? It should be Int+3.

Yes, the virtue is Skilled Parens.

The physical sign of my Strong Faerie Blood - I will go with amber eyes.

Free study gives a bonus to study from vis. Study requirement says I can’t learn magic without going to the right environment. So, no contradiction but it does mean as my aquam advances I will have to spend more time on the North Sea coast unless I can find a magical lake or stream on the moors.
Strong Faerie Blood - I can ignore aging until age 50. Difficult Longevity Ritual will put me at a severe disadvantage compared to the other magi after this, so I am forced to either explore Merinita methods of avoiding death (Becoming as a Faerie route, or there’s a nature lore route to becoming bound to a place).

I think concentration should have “maintaining spells” as the speciality.

If I have ten points spare, then please put them into English. I was planning on using the “defaults to Low German minus a lot” and doing my best 'Allo Allo phrasing, or “Scthop! Schtop! What are you dooeeing? Theesh adventure eesh not ready yet?” (If you’ve seen the Grolsch ads).

OK. Done.

The ten points in English isn’t quite enough to get you to the second level but you should pick some up by exposure.